What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Replaced these toytecs for some used rebuilt kings. Anyone wanan buy some toytecs? They are in good condition

 

Aired down this morning

junk tires

 

Drove it somewhere and enjoyed the ambience

 

Designed/made some bumper hole plugs:

 

Not today, but did a few upgrades/maintenance items recently. Been terrible about taking pics during installation...

New ADS front coilovers. It's obvious to most people on here, I know, but wow what a difference. They currently rub a little. Need to address that - ruined one of my reservoir stickers.







Also put a decal on the tailgate, replaced a blown CV, replaced the worn out carrier bearing, installed an alarm and got rid of the black wheels and replaced with silver, to reduce hovercraft effect. Also installed another dog sticker, as requested by my dog.




A few more things upcoming: have a tiny bit of roughness at idle. Mounts seem fine so I'm thinking possibly plugs (they're not very old), or perhaps throttle body. I've read mixed reviews on cleaning the throttle body. Some say do it and others say don't mess with it. Any opinions?

Also will do rear suspension and new front UCAs at some point, once I recover from the ADS purchase.

And lastly I'm starting a bed drawer/sleeping platform upgrade project. We go climbing a lot so I've always put the crash pads and camping gear underneath, but it leaves a lot to be desired both in terms of space efficiency in the bed and also room on top of the sleeping platform. Drawers with some proper organization should alleviate that.

 

Wouldn’t adding a drawer system reduce the amount of space for pads? I have rtt now and just shove 4-5 pads in my camper now. Nice to have all that protection.

 

Yes, it means the pads will no longer go under the sleeping platform. I used to be anal about keeping the mattress clean and free of dirt/dust from the pads, but i've decided to keep a blanket back there to cover the mattress and throw the pads on top of the blanket. Then when we're camping we can keep the pads under the truck or in a tarp if it's raining (and it almost never rains in CO and UT, where we spend a lot of our time). Also, no more crawling under the sleeping platform to get things, not to mention significantly more headroom in the sleeping area.

 

more pictures of the flatbed?

 

Hit this little arrow at the bottom of his last post, it will take you through his previous posts where he's put up several pics of the project

 

I had a super exciting wrenching session in the driveway with old Trudy today

When I picked up the truck just about a year ago I was able to knock a grand off the price tag due to mainly the airbag light being on and a leaky noisy muffler. That meant the airbag system was not doing anything for me since it disables itself when there is an issue, not too mention the annoying red light lurking in the background everywhere I went.

I had already looked at all the wires and cleaned all connectors without success and thought it may be the module itself or a sensor. I decided to roll the dice and picked up a used air bag module from ebay since it was $85 shipped and the labor involved was so simple (well under an hour). It turned out the Tacoma gods smiled upon my plan and as I turned the key back on and said a prayer I almost could not believe the pesky light finally turned itself off for the first time since I have owned the truck!!



Oddly this has been one of the most exciting things I have done to the truck actually. Not only is the truck much safer now but I saved so much money knocking a grand off the price tag, got used vs getting a new $600+ module, not paying for labor or special airbag code readers, etc.

I really wasnt sure this would work out so good... I am still giddy here!

 

Got the reflective decals from eBay and painted my center console that was all scuffed up. I added a piece of neoprene like material from a dollar store laptop cover under the armrest- makes a world of difference!!! I tightened everything up so it’s no longer flopping around and it came out pretty good. Next I’ll be taking the screws out again and painting them black- just did that for the thresholds today too. I did paint my mudflaps before installing the decals and painted the bolts holding them on so they look fresh.

it’s the little things...

 

I was today years old when I learned about this cool feature.

 

I’ll give you 5 bucks for one

 

✔ CS144 Alternator
✔ Big 3 wire upgrade
✔ Oil change
✔ A/C idler bearing replacement

 

I took a picture of mine today.
Want more?

 

Installed a mustache

 

Yes

 

I drove it. Finally.

A few things that still need work:
- The bed has a front to back tilt of 0.6 degrees. I know this because I checked it with the angle finder I recently bought that I should have bought much earlier. Should be a pretty easy fix, just have to rework the rear mounts a little taller.
- I think its a little lighter than the stock bed - or these new springs are super stiff. Its stink bugging pretty bad. On the other hand, it has no spare tire, no hitch and no bumper yet. Easier to add more than cut stuff off.
- I messed up on the toolbox mount, the bolts holding it down are trying to bend hte bottom and its wiggly.
- Parking brake is useless. Needs adjustment.

Overall, I'm pretty stoked. Its been a fun project and I've learned a ton. Just need to keep tweaking it.






Also, the taillights are freaking bright.